“Behind the bar there, collecting the glasses, that’s Axel Tollet. Used to work at the Hook and Gaffe back then. He’s a driver for Wallace now. My brother. Wallace runs the freight division of Sea-Tech.”
“Axel any relation to Garrison Tollet?”
“Cousin.”
She pointed at the big toothless aggressor in the photo. “Is this Wallace, your brother?”
“Yeah, that’s Wally.”
“And the twins here—they’re Joey and Beau Tollet?”
“Yeah. Axel’s brothers. They’re over there.” He jerked his head in the direction of the group watching from the warehouse.
“They work for Sea-Tech, too?”
“Like I said, small town, a few big family-owned businesses. Makes for limited employment options.”
Angie stole another look at the men in the warehouse. She could make out two big dark-haired guys among them. She figured they were Beau and Joey. Jasmine must have been out-of-her-mind drunk to mess with this bunch. Hurriedly Angie took out another screenshot, the one where the scrawny older male had joined the group.
“And this older guy?” She pointed.
“Tack McWhirther. Shelley Tollet’s uncle. He died some years back. Throat cancer.”
“He was protective of Shelley?” Angie asked.
“Shelley was his brother’s only child. Tack’s brother and sister-in-law died in a small plane accident off Tofino. Tack took care of Shelley until she married Garrison.”
Angie sifted through the other prints, everything getting wet in the rain. She held another out to him. “What is Shelley Tollet giving you in this photo?”
His brow lowered, and his jaw tightened. “I don’t need to answer this shit.”
“No. But what do you have to hide?”
He regarded her intensely. “It was cat medicine. Shelley had come into town to visit a friend who was having a baby, and she also needed to pick up pills from the vet for their old cat. She said she was going to overnight in town because the friend’s baby hadn’t come yet. She came to the pub to find Garrison so he could take the medication back to the lodge to give to the cat when he drove his clients up in the morning.”
“Did Garrison know Shelley had come in and seen him in the booth with Jasmine?”
“I have no fucking idea, okay? This right here is where I draw the line, because none of this shit has anything to do with the accident. If you go up to the lodge asking Shelley and Garrison these questions about adultery after all these years, what in the hell good do you think is going to come of that? What good isthatgoing to do Jasmine Gulati’s grandmother, eh? When you go telling the old judge that her grandkid was fucking married men. She was a class-A bitch who begged for trouble.”
“Problem, Jessie?”
Angie spun at the sound of the voice. The big blond male loomed behind her. Even twenty-four years after seeing him captured on film, Angie recognized him instantly as Mr.Toothless, who’d gone head-to-head with Jasmine. Wallace “Wally” Carmanagh. Even larger in life. With shiny-white crowns that didn’t quite match the shade of the rest of his teeth.
“Wallace Carmanagh,” Angie said, turning to face the man squarely. She kept her feet slightly planted apart, her weight positioned more heavily on her back foot—a defensive posture kicking in. She was suddenly acutely conscious of her knife sheathed to her belt under her jacket. She was also aware she no longer carried a sidearm and was no longer protected by backup. The men in the warehouse shifted closer. Angie mentally calculated the distance to her Mini Cooper parked near Jessie’s office.
Wallace ignored her and turned on his brother. “Don’t say another fucking word, Jessie. I don’t know what the fuck you agreed to talk to her for.” He jabbed his finger in Angie’s direction. “A PI like her gathers dirt about people. She sweet-talks them into giving information her client will use to file a lawsuit. You mark my words,that’swhat she’s looking for. To sue your and Garrison’s asses off for some stupid accident on the river a quarter of a century ago.”
He faced Angie. “And you—you get your tight little ass the hell outta town before someone gets hurt, you hear me?”
Conscious of her recording device still activated in her front pocket, Angie said with feigned calm, “Is that a threat, Mr.Carmanagh?”
The twins extracted themselves from the group in the warehouse and came toward them fast. Fear curled into Angie. It was getting dark. The other employees had gone. Just this group of big men and her on a wharf in the rain and mist.
“Got a spot of trouble there, Wally?” It was one of the twins, his voice rough, deep.
“Joey and Beau Tollet?” she said with feigned cheer. “I was hoping to chat with you both as well.” Angie turned in a slow semicircle, meeting each man’s eyes in turn while positioning herself with a clear run to her car.
“The women on the fishing trip said they were being followed by a group of three men while on the river. One might have been carrying a rifle or some other weapon. They also said they heard a banjo at night. Do you know who might have been taunting them?”
